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Barthe Declements

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Nothings Fair In Fifth Grade Paperback – May 1 1990

by Barthe Declements (Author)

4.6 655 ratings

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The award-winning national bestseller! When Elsie Edwards becomes the new girl in the fifth grade, nothing seems fair--but lots of things are fun. "Absolutely marvelous."--Parents' Choice.

Print length

144 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Puffin USA
Publication date

May 1 1990
Dimensions

12.7 x 0.64 x 19.69 cm
ISBN-10

0140344438
ISBN-13

978-0140344431
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Barthe DeClements
86
Paperback
$6.50
Barthe DeClements
32
Paperback
$6.23
Sid Fleischman
680
Paperback
$10.99

Product description

From Publishers Weekly

This winner of 13 state "children's favorite" awards shows Jenny and her friends as they struggle through elementary school injustices. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Puffin USA; Reissue edition (May 1 1990)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 144 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0140344438
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140344431
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 136 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 12.7 x 0.64 x 19.69 cm

Customer Reviews:
4.6 655 ratings

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Barthe Declements

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Top reviews from Canada

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CMF

An old favourite

Reviewed in Canada on June 20, 2019

Verified Purchase

I've loved this book since I was a kid and was delighted to see it was available on Kindle to read again as an adult.
Keeping in mind that this book was published in 1981, the cover art has just been updated, you have to know that things like being different and overweight were treated a lot more meanly. I know some reviews have called this a horrible book because of the treatment of Elsie, and her treatment is awful. But it comes to a good and positive conclusion. The age of this book shows in the content, but it's still a good story about prejudice and not judging people on their appearance. And also how people can change for the better.

Helpful

Charmyn

Written honestly, and relateably.

Reviewed in Canada on September 28, 2018

Verified Purchase

I loved this book when I read it when I was young. I am enjoying reading it to my kids now.

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Jill

A great book for students of all grades!

Reviewed in Canada on June 2, 2001

This is a great book! The book certainily documents a average student's life. Their troubles, friends, foes, and obsticles.
I would recommend this book to a student looking for a fun-read!

Helpful

Melinda

This is a wonderful book...

Reviewed in Canada on September 19, 2002

... I'm 23 years old, and I still love this book. It was an ever present staple of my childhood reading library. This book was my first paperbackpurchase, which I bought after I became really obsessed with the book and was denied from taking it out of the library anymore, because it seemed that I -always- ahd it checked out. This book was absoulutly great because it shows how even "big fat theives" need friends too.
When a girl named Elsie Edwards is a new student in Jenny Sawyers 5th grade class, the class makes fun of her (behind her back of course) because of how heavy she is. When some of the class' lunch money starts disappearing, they discover that it was Elsie who's been taking it. After a while, after Elsie, a math whiz, tutors Jenny in math, Jenny befriends Elsie and so does alot of kids. The ending really shocked me when I first read it, and I know you'll be shocked too!
I highly recommend this book to any parent looking for great reading material for their kids. In fact, I was so shocked to see that Amazon carried this title, that I actually placed a copy of it on my OWN Wishlist, so that my children can enjoy it when they've grown

Reviewed in Canada on August 16, 2001

This book was my first paperback. I remember taking it out of the school library in Grade 3 after my teacher suggested it. I became really obsessed with the book and ended up buying a copy of my own. This book was absoulutly great because it shows how at some points, life cannot be fair.
When a girl named Elsie Edwards is a new student in Jenny Sawyers 5th grade class, the class is shocked by her "Weight Problem", let along her apperance because of her weight. They then find out that Elsie has been responsable for stole lunch money that she has been taken from the class. After a while, Jenny befriends Elsie and so does alot of kids. This book has lots of surprises, so keep reading!! A perfect choice for any reader!

Reviewed in Canada on January 4, 2001

... Nothings fair in fifth grade is so far on of my favoritebooks. I'm not quit done with the book but it is good so far. Myfavorite part is when Jenny and Elsie get to be friends. I don'tlike how the dad is demanding. The book has in a way a lesson nomatter how different some people are from you shouldn't make fun ofthem because on the inside you might be the exact same. I really likehow the book can get really exciting and then it goes to having anormal life. The girls in the book were really mean at the beginningat the book but shaped up in the middle. I highly recommend this book.

Helpful

C.Allison

Extremely disappointing

Reviewed in Canada on February 2, 2004

I bought this book on the strength of the reviews I read in Amazon, and all I can guess is that these reviewers are friends of the author because this is not a good book at all. My nine year old daughter and I read it together and she was very upset by the constant ridiculing of Elsie, the fact that the author had to restate over and over again what a freak she was, as fat as a circus act, can't look at her feet, has multiple chins, etc. Okay, we get it, she's fat! Now can we get on to the humanity of the child? The other girls, including the narrator, were unlikeable for so long that we almost didn't care when they started to realize Elsie was a person with feelings. And my daughter was very concerned with Elsie's mother's abuse of her, and very much hoping the mother would come to some kind of understanding of her daughter by the end. I read the last two chapters before she did, and when I told her that no such event occurred she refused to read the end of the book.
As a writer myself, I was disappointed by the author's lack of a grip on story structure. The characters had very little arc, and there were no likeable characters to relate to. In addition, the utterly terrifying chapter where the children are kidnapped by a truck driver and taken outside the city limits has no place in a book like this. Nor did the slap on the wrist outcome by the police. My daughter also was very confused by this.
I respect the opinions of those who liked this book, but I couldn't disagree more.

Helpful

Maryn

DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK FOR YOUR CHILDREN

Reviewed in Canada on May 26, 2001

I am absolutely appalled by this book. I read it as a child, and it encouraged my extreme fear of fat-ness. I remember thinking, after reading of this book, "There must be nothing worse in the whole world than being fat." After all, Elsie is labeled as "lazy", "undisciplined", "unworthy", "gross", "a pig", merely because she is a large person. No one in this book begins to accept Elsie for who she is until she loses weight. This book is only another vehicle of the lethal message of our culture that "fat is bad". I say "lethal" because for the past year, I have been in the hospital for the anorexia I developed as a child. I almost died. It's really time we all started asking ourselves "why must the human body be a source of shame?". After all, our body is our greatest earthly possession. It is the container of the human soul.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Christopher Bubb

Fat shaming? Not in my opinion!

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2014

Verified Purchase

I was first exposed to the work of Barthe DeClements in my FOURTH-grade year - 1989. During story time, my teacher read this book to us, and I immediately fell in love with it.

Some may compare this to Judy Blume's "Blubber," as both are about fifth-graders, both feature girls who are singled out for teasing and torment due to being overweight, and both the narrator and the object of torment are presented - initially at least - as unsympathetic characters (Elsie because she steals from her classmates and panhandles for forbidden sweets during lunch, Jenifer because of her initial hate of Elsie before she begins to understand Elsie's life situation). However, this book seems to have more heart and certainly has a more satisfying conclusion than "Blubber."

In "Blubber" (which I still enjoy) Judy Blume never characterizes Linda "Blubber" Fischer as anything more than a chubby pushover without a backbone. In "NFIFG," we come to understand why Elsie is the way she is - she comes from a broken home, she's been abandoned by her father (at least it seems so), she has a verbally and physically abusive mother who very likely has some psychological issues of her own, and she eats for comfort. (In that respect the book, published in 1981, may be seen as ahead of its time, being written at a time when the psychology behind obesity was not as widely discussed in the public sphere as it is today.) At the same time, her stealing is not condoned and she is made to face the consequences for her actions.

One other reviewer thought the book was an example of fat-shaming. I can't disagree more. Elsie's suffering doesn't end when she begins to lose weight, because she still has a less-than-ideal home life to contend with, including a mother who is so neglectful and abusive toward her that she won't even buy her new clothes when the old clothes no longer fit (until a classmate's mother shames her into doing so). Jenifer becomes Elsie's friend not because of Elsie's weight loss, but because she comes to understand Elsie's life situation better and to realize that Elsie is a human being with real feelings. Eventually she is able to bring Sharon and Diane around to do the same. And despite her weight loss, Elsie is still a target for bullies and name-calling. There is a sequel, HOW DO YOU LOSE THOSE NINTH GRADE BLUES?, published in 1983, which continues the story of Elsie into high school, and even though she has slimmed down into a svelte beauty by then, the weight loss hasn't solved all of her problems, as she still suffers from insecurity and her relationship with her mother is still strained. Nowhere do I see a message along the lines of MAGGIE GOES ON A DIET (i.e. that losing weight will magically make you popular and solve all of your problems).

As for the narrator, "Blubber"'s Jill Brenner is a spoiled brat and a jerk essentially throughout the entire book, and never grows or matures in any way - the lesson she learns is about standing up for herself, not about treating others with respect, and she never feels any remorse for the torment she caused Linda, even after she herself is on the receiving end of the teasing. In "NFIFG," Jenifer's coming to know Elsie as more than just "the fat girl" - as a human being with real emotions who is mired in a very tough time in her life - seems somewhat cliche and "After School Special"-like at first, but it has better lessons for readers than "Blubber." Jenifer is simply much more likeable than Jill.

Since this was published over 30 years ago, a number of the cultural references are obviously dated - for example, MORK AND MINDY, and when was the last time 10/11-year-old girls listened to Elton John, the Bee Gees, and the Rolling Stones? - but the lessons about not judging a person until you understand his or her life situation, and about looking past a person's attractive (or unattractive) exterior to see the person inside, still hold true. For more of Elsie, read the sequel HOW DO YOU LOSE THOSE NINTH GRADE BLUES?, which gives much more insight into Elsie's unhappy home life and frosty relationship with her mother. Also recommended is 1985's SIXTH GRADE CAN REALLY KILL YOU, which introduces a new character, Helen (who hides her own feelings of inadequacy due to her reading disability through juvenile delinquency) and brings back Jenifer, Elsie, Diane and the rest for supporting roles.

46 people found this helpful

SamReads

Awesome old school book

Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

Great throwback to my childhood. Love it

One person found this helpful

C.Allison

Extremely disappointing

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2004

Verified Purchase

I bought this book on the strength of the reviews I read in Amazon, and all I can guess is that these reviewers are friends of the author because this is not a good book at all. My nine year old daughter and I read it together and she was very upset by the constant ridiculing of Elsie, the fact that the author had to restate over and over again what a freak she was, as fat as a circus act, can't look at her feet, has multiple chins, etc. Okay, we get it, she's fat! Now can we get on to the humanity of the child? The other girls, including the narrator, were unlikeable for so long that we almost didn't care when they started to realize Elsie was a person with feelings. And my daughter was very concerned with Elsie's mother's abuse of her, and very much hoping the mother would come to some kind of understanding of her daughter by the end. I read the last two chapters before she did, and when I told her that no such event occurred she refused to read the end of the book.
As a writer myself, I was disappointed by the author's lack of a grip on story structure. The characters had very little arc, and there were no likeable characters to relate to. In addition, the utterly terrifying chapter where the children are kidnapped by a truck driver and taken outside the city limits has no place in a book like this. Nor did the slap on the wrist outcome by the police. My daughter also was very confused by this.
I respect the opinions of those who liked this book, but I couldn't disagree more.

24 people found this helpful

Deborah Bruce

Wow this is a good book

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

It may have some mistakes but is interesting and I actually asked if I could read it!:)) #you should read this book!!!!!!!!!!!#yah giraffes

Christina B

Great book, brings back lots of memories

Reviewed in the United States on August 18, 2019

Verified Purchase

I bought this book because I bought it when I was in Fifth Grade. My daughter is now going into Fifth Grade in the fall, and I bought it for her. She hasn't even opened the book yet, but I did and I read the entire thing in a day. I love this book. It's a great coming-of-age tale.

4 people found this helpful

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Nothings Fair In Fifth Grade Paperback – May 1 1990

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Follow the author

Nothings Fair In Fifth Grade Paperback – May 1 1990

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From Publishers Weekly

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About the author

Barthe Declements

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Top reviews from Canada

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